ANTIQUE JEWELLERY,
A REFLECTION OF WORLD CULTURES

WORKS OF ART & DECORATIVE ARTS
AUCTION 18 SEPTEMBER 2025

The Lucerne collectors Ernst and Marthe Kofler-Truniger rank among Switzerland’s most important private collectors of the 20^th century. Guided by artistic quality and historical resonance, over decades they assembled a remarkable collection of antiquities, liturgical objects and extra-European works. Their passion reaches far beyond aesthetics alone, reflecting a profound interest in the world’s cultures.

Unlike many of their contemporaries, they did not seek the monumental or the ostentatious, but were moved by pieces of intimate scale—precious miniatures of craftsmanship. An entrepreneur and long-time head of the Kofler fashion house, Ernst enjoyed an excellent reputation among museums and curators worldwide, as evidenced by numerous loans and exhibitions from the late 1950s onward.

The couple’s meticulous care—above all the detailed descriptions they compiled for each object—now provides a valuable foundation for our catalogues. From their estate, as eclectic as it is significant, Koller is honoured to present, across several sales, a portion of the Kofler-Truniger collection of antique jewellery.

Through this selection, we discover that in Antiquity jewellery was far more than adornment: its technical virtuosity expressed identity, status and belief. Unfolding before us is a fascinating panorama of cultural diversity and artistic excellence, from majestic Achaemenid gold parures to the subtle symbolism of Egyptian amulets, and the pared-back elegance of Hellenistic forms.

Alongside examples in gold—the privileged material of many ancient civilisations for its lustre, durability and ritual associations—the Kofler-Truniger collection also includes singular pieces in silver, electrum, glass, bronze and copper, as well as remarkable examples in enamel. These jewels testify to craftsmanship that transcends borders and epochs, from the great Mediterranean cultures to those of the Middle and Near East: Achaemenid, Egyptian, Etruscan, Hellenistic, Roman, Gallo-Roman, and Merovingian brooches and belt buckles from the Migration Period.

Among the earliest pieces is an Achaemenid gold cloisonné button (6^th–4^th century BCE), slightly domed and ringed with beaded filigree, its stylised star or flower motif inlaid with carnelian, glass paste and stones.

A Fatimid jewel is distinguished by the exceptional finesse of its filigree and gold wires, often enhanced with minute granulation and occasionally enriched with coloured cloisonné enamel. Another striking example, a 12^th-century pendant, is fashioned in precisely this technique. Under the Fatimid dynasty (909–1171), active in North Africa and the Near East, men and women wore precious jewellery that often carried symbolic or protective meaning beyond its decorative value. Many Fatimid stylistic elements were later taken up in Islamic goldsmithing.

EARRING
LIKELY DEPICTING
AN EMPRESS

PLAQUE IN THE FORM
OF A FELINE PREDATOR

EARRING
WITH EROS

A proto-Byzantine earring (5^th–7^th century) appears to depict the face of an empress. If confirmed, this would be the earliest known Byzantine example of an imperial portrait on this type of ornament, identified notably by the characteristic hairstyle.

The jewels in the Kofler-Truniger Collection immerse us in the aesthetics and fashions of past civilisations, while offering insights into their trade, beliefs and technical innovation. Each jewel is a unique witness to a vanished art, carrying enduring historical and cultural value.

View the catalogue